Top 103 Warrior Tattoo Ideas [2020 Inspiration Guide]

To display masculine strength at every juncture, smart style gods leave the task up to a warrior tattoo. These mighty caricatures can sum up your conquests with unrivaled aesthetic boldness.

There is a lot of pride to be had in being a warrior, so these noble fighters deserve to show off their brute force with style; luckily, tattoos offer a sleek way to reveal a passionately strong spirit.

Warriors incarnate in countless forms, and all of them are equally worthy of exaltation. Each culture has their own archetype. From the American soldier to the Japanese samurai, you have your pick when it comes time to battle. No one will trifle with the extreme capacities of a guy who openly declares his warrior status with ink in his flesh.

There are also copious symbols of power that can be used to tie into warrior mentalities. Regardless of your chosen iconography, the totem of energy will enshrine indefatigable willpower. You can convey superiority in silence thanks to warrior body art.

To get a glimpse at this extensive depth, just take yourself on a guided tour of these tattoos via our exquisite set right now.

Got a feeling there’ll be a lot more references to Sparta than just this piece. This is a great small tattoo on the chest, mixing the metallurgical clank of military headgear with cool style and shape aspects. The Spartan/Grecian horsehair crown has been traded for a sleeker metal version to amp up the ferocity of the helmet, while the pitting and age effects of the metal itself is also well deployed. Also good application of technique shown by dropping in only a small amount of fuzzy fill to solidify the image.

This Japanese warrior tattoo in black and gray style exemplifies commitment from artist and subject to build a memorable tattoo over a long period. On first gaze the piece looks overwrought and too busy, but take time to notice the cool elements of this massive back piece. The thundering horde of Warriors riding out to meet butt-crack from the Shinto shrine looks cinematic. The artist cleverly creates detail in the front riders from the swirl of limbs, horses and metal behind. It contrasts nicely against the original solo samurai tattoo that the rest of the work has been built around.

Does Gerard Butler get royalties for every Spartan warrior tattoo laid on flesh with his face? Because there has to be a million of them… This piece is straight out of the 300, even down to the CGI abs our hero is sporting. It’s a cool tattoo.

This piece looks great due to the clever gray color and shading. The ink makes this gleam. The two headed, emblazoned ducks across the warriors’ chest, looming castle, and fierce hacking fighter with staunch helmet all look good together. Would probably change the dainty silver belt and buckle to make it seem tougher, however this is a good piece of body art that looks carved from stone.

This new wave take on the Grecian helm is bad ass. Love the artist’s deployment of thicker, more noticeable white ink than usual to create contrast and cool patterning detail, as do the just flaring the cheek wings. The horsehair of the helmet’s crown is also well done from a technique standpoint. Individual strands team well with the fuzzier filler in forming the mane.

You wouldn’t want a hulking Teutonic knight bearing down on you from atop a massive warhorse in real life, but it’s probably ok in realistic tattoo form. This ink is wicked – it looks like a RPG video game come to life. The shield makes a nice contrast of shade, shape and line against the primary dark gray color.

Cool technical interpretation in this female warrior tattoo. The line and shading looks to have been scratched straight on to the black background with the back end of a paintbrush to make the jagged details of armor and fur. Also like how this tattoo has been deliberately drawn freehand, it’s a case where the inaccuracies in straight lines and fill images make more of an impact.

There’s a lot of weight in this full length Japanese sleeve tattoo. It exceptionally detailed but too much gets lost in the darkness of the tattoo’s theme. A lighter shadow fill would have helped this pop off the skin more.

“Immortality is yours, take it!” The cinematic still of Brad Pitt’s Achilles in Troy is delivered perfectly, mirroring how he rolls up the beach with his cohort to unleash death on Hector, Paris, and Troy. While the tattoo is very dark, the artist is able to work all of the armor’s details in cleverly.

The placement of this cheat tattoo is excellent. It could sit anywhere on the breast, but has successfully been worked in to an interesting border shape that allows the horns free reign to dominate. Not a huge fan of leaving out eyes here, however amongst the bird’s nest of bear and hair they may have look out of sync with the rest of the piece.

No Gerry Butler for this Spartan warrior. He’s been made to look a bit more comic book style in shape and form so looks unique for a work of this kind. The contrast of the solid gray/bronze color work with the bright scarlet cloak helps balance the top half only image.

What does a warrior tattoo mean?

Warrior ethos drives a lot of different motivations for pursuing this type of tattoo. For some individuals the warrior motif is a projection: self image, role in family or community, work, or symbol of being part of a mission more important than oneself.

For others, the warrior tattoo provides a link to heritage, ancestry, and the past, with the subject commemorating what’s come before but also establishing the embodiment replacing those that fought in years gone by.

Finally, there are people who’ve loved the warrior’s sword and flame in books, movies, and entertainment since Princesses lived in castles, ogres lived under bridges, and bandits roamed the forest looking for rich people to plunder.